tankas with friends #PoetryFriday

Last evening, Teach Write writing buddies gathered on ZOOM for our monthly writing challenge get-together. This month, under the leadership of Leigh Anne Eck, we are writing tanka expressing thanks — directly or, as in my case, indirectly. We like to refer to them as Tanka Yous. After writing for about 30 minutes, we regrouped to share our progress. A lovely evening of writing fellowship, which I am indeed thankful for.

The inspiration for my tanka draft came from a walk my husband and I took Thursday afternoon through a gorgeous land conservation trust property in Lincoln, MA that combines the town’s historic cemetery and an abutting farm. The same family have been farming here since the mid-17th century, and they have graciously created walking paths around and across their fields. (Click here to catch a glimpse!) I love it there anytime of the year, but especially in the fall when the trees that circle the property come to life. As we walked yesterday, a gentle breeze was blowing, bringing down many of the remaining leaves on nearby oak and maple. They fell upon the grass, stonewall, gravestones, and the gravel drive.

autumnal tints scatter
drifting down in the wind
dotting pasture and pavement
memories of warm days past
harbingers of cold to come

— Christie Wyman, 2021 (draft)

Credit for “autumnal tints” goes, of course, to our neighborhood native son, Henry David Thoreau, who accompanies me in spirit on all of my saunters. He, too, walked these parts.

Thank you for joining us this lovely Poetry Friday. Click the link to join the roundup! Matt Forrest Esenwine is our gracious host this week.

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